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Sri Lanka and Pakistan Pin Their Hopes On IMF Bailout Package

Israel takes centre-stage of Middle East politics

James M Dorsey A straightforward message emerged from this week’s meeting in the Negev desert of the foreign ministers of four Arab countries, Israel and the United States: Israel is key to the security of Gulf autocracies and continued US engagement in the Middle East. It may be a message that on the surface holds out the promise of reduced regional tension, the beginning of a rejiggering […]

Aurora Strategy Group Announces Largest Expansion In Its History

New consultants from Australia, Canada, and the United States offers global reach and additional services TORONTO, CANADA – News Direct – 3 February 2022 – Marcel Wieder, President and Chief Advocate for Aurora Strategy Group announced the firm’s largest expansion by adding six new consultants in Australia, Canada, and the United States. This follows the recent addition of consultants in Israel and the United Arab Emirates.   […]

Headwinds in UAE nation branding campaign

James M Dorsey For at least the last two decades, the United Arab Emirates, aided by some of the world’s foremost consulting and public affairs companies, has waged one of, if not the Middle East’s most successful nation branding campaign. The campaign has been supported by cutting edge technological and economic initiatives; a bold and assertive foreign policy backed by the UAE’s financial and military muscle; a […]

OctaFX partners with Pertubuhan Tindakan Wanita Islam (PERTIWI) to distribute charity dinners during Eid al-Adha

KUALA LUMPUR, MALAYSIA – Media OutReach – 3 Aug 2021 – On 20 July, OctaFX supported charitable organisation Pertubuhan Tindakan Wanita Islam (PERTIWI) in the distribution of meals to people in need during the Eid al-Adha season. On 20 July, OctaFX joined efforts with charitable organisation Pertubuhan Tindakan Wanita Islam (PERTIWI) to organise food distribution for those in need. This special dinner for 400 beneficiaries took place in Kuala Lumpur in […]

Trump aide indictment mars UAE’s lobbying success

James M Dorsey This month’s indictment of a billionaire, one-time advisor and close associate of former US President Donald J. Trump, on charges of operating as an unregistered foreign agent in the United States for the United Arab Emirates highlights the successes and pitfalls of a high-stakes Emirati effort to influence US policy. The indictment of businessman Thomas  J. Barrack, who maintained close ties to UAE Crown Prince […]

Trump aide indicted for lobbying for UAE

Arabian Post Staff Trump’s former inaugural chairman Tom Barrack has been indicted for illegally promoting the interests of UAE by building a backchannel to senior US officials, US media reports said. According to Bloomberg, Barrack and two of his associates were charged with failing to register as foreign agents for work they allegedly did to promote the United Arab Emirates’ foreign policy interests and increase its political […]

ME powers fight for next generation of Muslims

James M Dorsey Education is emerging as a major flashpoint in competing visions of a future Muslim world. Rival concepts being instilled in a next generation are likely to shape what amounts to a battle for the soul of Islam. Reports earlier this year published by the Israel-based Institute for Monitoring Peace and Cultural Tolerance in School Education (IMPACT-SE) chart the divergence in educational approaches. At one end of […]

Biden Regime Should End Drone Wars And Halt Space Militarization

EU-DisinfoLab Report 2020 Exposes A Transnational Political Scam

Saudi rushes to improve image in advance of G20 and Biden

By James M. Dorsey Saudi Arabia has taken multiple steps to polish its tarnished image in advance of this weekend’s hosting of the virtual summit of the G20 that groups the world’s foremost economies and in anticipation of an incoming Biden administration in the United States that is expected to be critical of Riyadh and potentially more conciliatory towards Iran and non-violent Islamists. The initiatives target US and European […]

Hedging Bets: Turkey positions itself as supply chain alternative to China

By James M. Dorsey A Turkish-US business council is projecting Turkey as a trading alternative to China with the help of influential US Republican Senator Lindsey Graham, a close associate of President Donald J. Trump. The Turkish effort comes two weeks after President Recep Tayyip Erdogan heralded a new era in long-strained relations with Washington. Mr. Graham’s agreement to participate in a webinar organized by the Turkey American Business […]

UAE to help Indonesia set up sovereign fund

Arabian Post Staff Indonesia’s business community on Thursday welcomed the UAE’s pledge to pump tens of billions of dollars into a wide range of key sector projects. President Joko Widodo and his entourage secured an overall $22.9 billion deal during an official two-day visit to Abu Dhabi earlier this week covering the fields of energy, logistics, port construction, mining, and agriculture. It was also revealed that the […]

Saudi Arabia and the West’s right wing: A dubious alliance

By James M. Dorsey Traditionally focussed on ultra-conservative Sunni Muslim Islam, Saudi funding in the era of crown prince Mohammed bin Salman has been streamlined and finetuned to ensure that it serves his geopolitical ambitions, primarily stymying the expansion of Iranian influence in the Middle East and North Africa and enhancing the kingdom’s global impact. The effort, however, has so far produced a mixed bag. Spending is […]

Khashoggi crisis: Putting Humpty Dumpty back together

 James M. Dorsey The killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi and potential Western sanctions against Saudi Arabia has sparked renewed debate about the value of the longstanding alliance between the United States and the kingdom. The debate is not limited to the US or the kingdom, both of which are assessing the reliability of the other even if that is a debate that is waged in Saudi Arabia behind […]

Multiple diplomatic spats raise questions about Saudi concept of sovereignty

By James M. Dorsey The failure of Western allies to rally around Canada in its dispute with Saudi Arabia risks luring the kingdom into a false belief that economic sanctions will shield it from, if not reverse mounting criticism of its human rights record and conduct of the war in Yemen. It also risks convincing Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman that acting with impunity will not impinge on […]

‘Patriot’ Dimon dodges calls to disavow Trump policies

Jamie Dimon endured a rough ride at the annual meeting of America’s biggest bank on Tuesday morning, as shareholders repeatedly attacked the JPMorgan Chase chief over his ties to the administration of Donald Trump. In December Mr Dimon was named chairman of the Business Roundtable, a group of almost 200 CEOs which is among the most prominent lobbying groups in Washington. Mr Dimon, chief executive of JPMorgan […]

JPMorgan buys Dublin building with room for 1,000 staff | Reuters

By Conor Humphries | DUBLIN DUBLIN JPMorgan Chase (JPM.N) has agreed to buy a Dublin building with room for 1,000 staff in the first sign of a financial services company expanding significantly in Ireland since the government began a major campaign to attract firms in the wake of Brexit. The U.S. investment bank will acquire a 130,000 square foot (12,000 square meter) building at the Capital Dock […]

Trump plans likely to aggravate U.S. inequality

By William Schomberg | BARI, Italy BARI, Italy U.S. President Donald Trump’s economic policies risk creating growth that mostly benefits the rich and aggravates income inequality in the United States, Nobel Prize-winning economist Angus Deaton said.     Trump was swept to power on promises of help for poorer Americans but Deaton said his proposals to roll back regulations on finance and industry and cut healthcare benefits would […]

GE’s Immelt wants to double purchases from Mexico: president’s office | Reuters

MEXICO CITY General Electric Co (GE.N) Chief Executive Jeff Immelt is keen to double the conglomerate’s purchases from Mexican suppliers next year, the Mexican president’s office said in a statement on Friday, a move that could upset U.S. President Donald Trump. Immelt met with Mexico’s President Enrique Pena Nieto in Mexico City and will spend a few days in Latin America’s No. 2 economy at a time […]

Bob Dole, Trump campaign aide to lobby for Congolese government

Dole, the only former Republican presidential nominee who endorsed Trump before the GOP convention last summer, is a savvy Washington insider who most recently attracted notice for his lobbying on behalf of Taiwan. Dole’s efforts led to a stunning call between Trump and Taiwan’s president, angering China. Dole’s retainer for the Taiwan work, which includes direct lobbying, is $25,000 a month, per federal disclosures.  Both Epstein and […]

In the Kingdom of Dying Ponies

May 12, 2017 IMPHAL, India – Fifteen seconds into the opening match of the 10th Manipur International Polo Tournament, after a long and feverish drumming performance, after the Manipur state chief minister had been properly honored with gifts and praise, after mounted players had paraded around the Mapal Kangjeibung polo ground with country flags held high, the home team scored on the Australians. It was a bright […]

Uber faces regulation in Europe as transport company

Uber should be regulated as a transport company and be subject to the same rules as normal taxis, according to a non-binding opinion by the Advocate General at the EU’s top court. The opinion, stating that the US ride-hailing app “must be classified as a ‘service in the field of transport’”, would deal a major blow to Uber if followed with a final judgment by the European […]

U.S. Democratic senators seek probe into Icahn’s biofuel credit dealings | Reuters

By Timothy Gardner | WASHINGTON WASHINGTON Eight Democratic senators asked U.S. regulators on Tuesday to launch an investigation into billionaire Carl Icahn’s activities in the U.S. biofuels blending credit market, saying the activist investor may have violated trading laws since becoming an adviser to President Donald Trump. “We are writing to request that your agencies investigate whether Carl Icahn violated insider trading laws, anti-market manipulation laws, or […]